Posts From December, 2016

How would you like to have to tell 34,000 patients that their data had been hacked? That’s the situation that Quest Diagnostics found itself in recently after hackers stole health information including names, birth dates, telephone numbers and lab results.

The clinical laboratory services company is just the latest victim in a long string of cyberattacks targeting protected health information. One in 13 patients stand to have their records stolen because of a healthcare provider breach, according to Accenture, an industry consulting firm. Healthcare organizations that have been the recent target of cybercriminals include:Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which paid a $17,000 ransom in bitcoin to regain control of its computer systems after a hack.Anthem Inc., the second-largest U.S. health insurer, which had the records of nearly 80 million customers stolen.MedStar Health, where hackers encrypted data from 10 hospitals, causing widespread confusion and delays in treatment because providers were unable to access records.
What can healthcare providers do to protect against such cyberattacks? We’ve collected a number of articles offering advice.Tips for protecting hospitals from ransomware as cyberattacks surgeHospitals Battle Data Breaches With a Cybersecurity SOSProtecting a vulnerable industry against cyber attacks5 Ways Providers Can Prevent Patient Data Breaches